It’s 8pm and you sit down in the ATC. You have a paper due tomorrow morning. Where did the last two weeks go? You were just so busy doing really important things…like watching Netflix, maybe some Hulu, hey you even did laundry for the first time in weeks! But how are you going to crank out a paper in time AND get a grade you wouldn’t be ashamed of sharing with your parents?
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The worst thing you can do is open up a blank Word document and just stare at it. Point in case: I wrote this in a word document and stared at it for a few minutes, and I already knew what I wanted to write! An empty white page staring, or glaring, at you from a computer screen can be anxiety-inducing, especially if you’re coming down to the wire on a deadline.
As someone who has written many papers in my lifetime, but who is also an unfortunate fan of the, I’ll do it later mentality, I’ve developed a system for writing good, last-minute papers. My system leans more towards research papers, but it boils down to the same general concepts for all papers.
1. Gather the Troops- Get all your materials together: your notebooks, your textbooks, any other books you’re using in the paper. Scan through them now if you so desire. I typically do a once-over of my class notes if they’re pertinent to the paper. With all of your materials beside you, you also won’t have an excuse to go wander around the library looking for a book that ends up not being on the shelf and while you’re at it having social hour with your friend you ran in to… You won’t have as many opportunities for distraction.
2. Fill in the Blank- By this I mean, don’t stare at a blank page too long. The first thing I do when I start a paper is a type either the prompt at the top of the page if the professor has given a specific prompt, or I type my thesis if it’s a research paper. This gets your fingers moving, and reminds you of what your paper needs to focus on.
*Sidenote: I have edited many papers as well, and when it comes to your thesis, the more specific, the better! Seriously, you’re not going to be able to cover ALL of that in 10 pages, that’s a long enough thesis for a book. And your thesis might change by the end of the paper, so EDIT IT. Your thesis should fit your paper; don’t always try to force a paper to fit your initial thesis.
3. Introducing your Masterpiece- I know that common advice will say to come back to your intro after you wrote the body and conclusion, but I have never been able to do that. I had an awesome history teacher at Exeter (shout out to Mr. Boadi) for my first trimester of U.S History who sat me down with a rough draft once and said, “Kristen, let me tell you how to write your introduction. You will always write it like this for every paper.”
a. Start with a sentence or two summarizing your topic: “In 1776 the founding fathers gathered to sign the Declaration of Independence, announcing that the thirteen American colonies now regarded themselves as independent from the British Empire.”
b. Next write what an expert or two had to say on the subject: “Historian John Smith said, ‘The Declaration of Independence forever changed the face of America,’ and scholarly expert Jane Doe said, ‘blah blah blah.’”
c. What’s your opinion? Where do you stand on the historians view? It’s acceptable to actually put a fact in your intro: “Contrary to what John Smith said, the Declaration of Independence was not the document that forever changed the face of America. The _____ was the truly influential document.”
d. THESIS! WOO! They’re not that hard: Antithesis, conjunction, thesis (or vice versa): “The Declaration of Independence was an important document in our countries history, however, the ____ was the much forgotten influence on our country’s early days because x, y, z.”
4. X Y Z- Okay so now you got your thesis, or maybe you already had it, but hey you’ve probably got almost a page double spaced with your title and your header at 1.5 or double spaced and the entire intro. Go you! Next thing I do is make a brief, BRIEF, outline. First paragraph is about X, what all do you want to say about X? Clump like points together. At this point in life being beyond the 5-paragraph essay you’ll probably get more than one paragraph for X (please just make each paragraph a sandwich that’s all I ask). Then Y, what are your general points? Then Z, general points? I jot this down on my notebook so I don’t have to keep scrolling up in my word document.
5. Just Keep Swimming- Seriously, a paper basically writes itself if you have a basic outline and your notes. Don’t stop if you’re on a roll, but if you’re seriously facing writer’s block go for a little jaunt around the ATC, come back to your computer and read what you have so far, scan your notes and books, and surely something will come to you. If not, maybe ask a friend to read it over?
Now go write!
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